Arthroscopic shaver with rotatable collet and slide aspiration control valve

A surgical handpiece for use with a rotatable surgical instrument having an aspirating lumen comprising:

• a drive motor;
• a housing having a first, longitudinally extending bore having a proximal end and a distal end, said first bore for receiving said drive motor and for receiving adjacent said distal end of said first bore at least a portion of a surgical instrument to be rotatably driven by said drive motor;
• a second, longitudinally extending bore parallel to said first bore;
• aspiration connection means for connecting said second bore to a source of aspirating vacuum;
• a third, oblique bore extending distally from said second bore to said first bore adjacent said distal end of said first bore, said third bore and said second bore intersecting at an aspiration port;
• a longitudinally slidable aspiration control valve situated at the distal end of said second bore for controlling the size of said aspiration port, said valve comprising an elongated pin for being received within said second bore and a manually operable button means connected to said elongated pin.

A surgical instrument for driving an elongated surgical tool having an axis and a rotatable inner member extending along said axis and rotatably situated within an outer member, said outer member having a cutting window facing at least partially in a direction transverse to the axis comprising:

• a housing;
• a drive means within said housing for driving the tool;
• a releasable collet means for receiving the surgical tool and holding it longitudinally fixed relative to said drive means, said collet means adapted to receive said tool in a predetermined angular orientation relative to said housing;
• means for enabling rotation of said tool for varying said predetermined angular orientation;
• recognition means for identifying the surgical tool received within said collet, said recognition means operable throughout all possible angular orientations of said tool relative to said housing.

A surgical instrument for driving a surgical tool comprising:

• a housing;
• a drive means within said housing for driving the tool;
• a releasable collet means for receiving the surgical tool and holding it longitudinally fixed relative to said drive means, said collet means adapted to receive said tool in a predetermined angular orientation relative to said housing;
• means for enabling rotation of said tool for varying said predetermined angular orientation;
• recognition means for identifying the surgical tool received within said collet, said recognition means operable throughout all possible angular orientations of said tool relative to said housing and comprising:
• a slidable position sensing lever extending radially inwardly from the periphery of said housing for a predetermined distance sufficient to be engageable by said tool;
• an indicator fixedly connected to said position sensing lever;
• means for enabling said position sensing lever to slide relative to said housing;
• sensor means fixedly positioned relative to said housing to sense the longitudinal position of said indicator.